Articles
Why Get Upset
Why get so upset? Why do we spend so much time upset over things or people we cannot control?
Esau was an impetuous man. He wanted the bowl of soup lest he die. He was not going to die. Nobody dies because they are hungry for a 24-hour period. Come on! Then, when his hunger was satisfied, he wanted a do-over. Jacob is not exactly of sterling character either. He was a deceiver and manipulator. And in a few years’ time he would have the same thing done to him.
But back to the question: “Why do we get so upset?” Is it that we want what we want right now? We do not want any inconvenience? We do not want any sacrifice? We do not want to endure any hardship? We want no pain? We want what we want and we want it our way. We want it easy.
But life does not happen that way. Take raising children. Nothing works like the parent has dreamed or planned. The child will grow up to have his or her own personality and make his or her own choices. He or she will walk and have their own dreams about how he or she want his or her life to be.
So, ultimately, we get upset because we choose to be upset. There is only one person I can control and that is me. I get to control how I respond to any given stimuli. No one else can control me unless I choose to let them. I get to choose. How much more peaceful would our lives be if we simply learned to let people be people? Let them make their own choices and, yes, live with the consequences of those choices. I do not want anybody telling me what I have to choose to do. Why should I be entitled to tell others what they must choose?
In all this I am not referring to anything sinful, right or wrong. I am simply talking about life and how life happens. There is no fixed way life happens. We are as varied as the shapes of noses on our faces. Is it impossible for us to simply take a deep breath and let the other person be who he or she is? I have to live with me. You have to live with you. So a little kindness and longsuffering would go a long way in helping us get along with who we each are.
